Wagg-n-tonque support



- (NoMod I-J A. H...GLEAS0N.

WAGON'TONGUE SUPPORT.

No. 291,332. Patented Jan. 1, 18 84.

- INVENTIOR:

WITNESSES BYM ATTORNEYS.

N'iTnn STATES Artist 'rr'icn.

ALBERT HARVEY GLEASON, or WA'BASH, INDIANA.

WAGONJONGUE SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,332, dated Januaryi 1884.

Application filed September 27, Iss3. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT HARVEY GLEA- soN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at \Vabash, in the county of Wabash and State ofIndiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Wagon-TongueSupports, of which the following is a specification.

In that class of wagons and carriages having tongues or thills it isdesirable to have the same supported so thatits weight shall not bewholly carried by the team. At the same time it is not desirable thatthe tongue should be rigidly held at any fixed height while in use, asthis would produce a pounding action 011 the necks of the team. It isalso desirable that when the vehicle is not in use its tongue shall notstick out in the way, as it would do if then held at the same heightthat it was held while in use. The object of my invention is to overcomethese objections.

To this end my invention consists in the con struction and combinationof parts hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in whieh- Figure 1 is a side elevation, part insection, of a portion of a wagon-tongue, one of the hounds, the axle,and my supporting device. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, showingboth hounds; and Fig. 3 is a detail view of the supporting device,partly in transverse vertical section.

Arepresents the tongue, pivoted ,at a to the hounds B, which are framed,as usual, to the woodwork of the axle C.

On the rear end of the tongue A, I secure a spring, D, coiled like aflat clock-spring. On the outer end of this spring I secure a hook, E,and at a little distance from the end I secure another hook, F. Thesehooks are of peculiar form. Each hookis practically double, having onebody extending across the breadth of the spring and secured to its back,and a hook projecting forward at each edge of the spring. These hooksare adapted to engage two studs, a, of an open block, G, the body ofwhich is secured to the axle O, the sides projecting forward from thebody, and the two studs a projecting inward toward each other from thesides. The vertical space between the sides of the block to the rear ofthe studs is enough to allow the double hooks to play freely therein.The distance between the ends of the studs is sufficient for the widthof spring D to pass between them 3 yet the studs are close enoughtogether to engage both hooks at the sides of the spring. The lower noseof each hook faces forward, so that when the spring descends each hookwill be wedged to the rear by contact with thestuds, and the upward noseof each hook is so slanted as to guard the hook in its upward movementand cause it to be wedged forward by the studs, so that quicksweeping-movements of the tongue through its arc of motion, either up ordown, do not engage the hooks with the studs, thus avoiding seriousshocks on the spring and hooks in case the tongue were to fall from ahigh angle of elevation.

To engage the hooks and studs it is neces sary to raise the tongueslowly until the desired hook springs forward below the studs; then letthe tongue down, and the hooks will engage the studs and support thetongue elastically, as desired. The lower hook will be set in suchrelation to the tongue as to support it at the desired height for use,and the upper hook will be fixed to the spring at such a height as tosupport the tongue at the desired angle of elevation when not in use. Ipre= fer to fasten the spring D at some distance fromits end to the rearend of the tongue, in order that the end to the rear of the fasteningmay be turned up to re-enforce the body of the spring.

That I claim as my invention, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a wagon-tongue pivoted to swing ver tically between the hounds, aspring secured upon the rear end of the tongue, and two hooks secured tosaid spring at different heights, in combination with a block secured tothe axle, having one or more studs adapted to engage said hooks, asshown and described.

2. The combination, with a flat coiled spring having two pairs of hooksprojecting from its sides, as described, secured to a wagontmigue, of ablock secured tothe axle, having two forward projections farther apartthan the width of apair of hooks, carrying twoinwardly-protwo pairs ofhooks secured to the spring, :6 jecting studs far enough apart to permitsaid adapted to engage said studs, each pair of spring to pass betweenthem, and adapted to hooks being provided with noses adapted to engagethe hooks at the sides of the spring, as guide the hooks past the studs,as described.

shown and described. v 3. The combination, with a 101001; having ALBERTHARVEY the forward-projecting sides and inwardly- XVitnesses: projectingstuds deseribed,seeured to awagon- MACY G001), axle, of a spring securedto the tongue, and l OLIVER H. BOGUE.

